An ESPN podcast documentary gets a first-of-its-kind premiere party in Chicago

by Ryan Smith on September 26, 2018 at 11:00AM

ESPN's series of 30 for 30 audio documentaries has been praised as "This American Life but for sports."  The podcast's producers are leading their third season with the world premiere of the episode Juiced—also the name of Canseco's controversial 2005 memoir about his 17-year baseball career and use of performance-enhancing drugs, to which he owns up in the book. Juiced also infamously named names of various teammates of Canseco who also allegedly used steroids. The podcast is described by the producers as a behind-the-scenes look at the messy making of the book: "The fallout from the publication is well documented—it is the first book to ever spark a congressional hearing.

Here's hoping that the myth of the bad teacher is finally laid to rest

by Ben Joravsky on September 24, 2018 at 6:00AM

Walter Payton, the seven best-performing high schools are all charters." Or when the Tribune editorialized that local charter schools outscored their neighborhood counterparts even though they didn't. Once you've turned teachers into scapegoats, everything falls into place.

Who can say who wrote that unsigned New York Times essay? Who can say but shouldn't?

by Michael Miner on September 9, 2018 at 12:20PM

The weird ethical question she savored: A wall divides fact from opinion at the Times, so while the editorial page editor knows the identity of the writer, the newsroom does not and presumably won’t shrink from finding out. But if it does find out, and then publishes the name, the Times will find itself in the strange position of having promised someone confidentiality and then going all out to break that promise.

Will Elon Musk's bullet train to O'Hare go up in smoke?

by Ryan Smith on September 7, 2018 at 6:54PM

Musk bragged that the whole project would cost less than a $1 billion and be operational within three years. Mayor Rahm Emanuel praised it as "the fast lane to the city's future" and pooh-poohed critics who said the numbers for the "Tesla-in-a-tunnel" didn't seem to add up.

How this got made: the award-winning 2017 Best of Chicago issue cover

by Sue Kwong on August 14, 2018 at 6:00AM

Alec Klein, Northwestern professor accused of sexual misconduct, resigns

by Maya Dukmasova on August 10, 2018 at 4:53PM

In February, a group of women calling themselves "Medill Me Too" released an open letter accusing Klein of sexually inappropriate behavior and bullying spanning years. Klein denied the accusations but took a leave of absence from his position as a director of the Medill Justice Project at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing Communications.

Five big-screen movies obsessed with the small screen

by Patrick Friel on July 24, 2018 at 6:30AM

Network Good campy fun from the combined talents of Paddy Chayefsky and Sidney Lumet; Chayefsky was apparently serious about much of this shrill, self-important 1976 television satire interlaced with bile about radicals and pushy career women, and so were some critics at the time. Peter Finch, in his last performance, effectively plays a network news commentator who blows his top and his mind on the air and quickly becomes a self-styled messiah; William Holden plays the wizened TV executive who has the Truth, which pushy, nihilistic program director Faye Dunaway wants; and Robert Duvall, Wesley Addy, Ned Beatty, and Beatrice Straight are around for comparably juicy hyperbole.

Chance the Rapper owns Chicagoist—now what?

by Leor Galil on July 19, 2018 at 1:11PM

iLLANOiZE Let's Get Social music showcase gives a platform to Chicago's rising hip-hop stars

by Matt Harvey on July 13, 2018 at 3:33PM

"I want everything we're doing in the music business send the message that this is possible to do, even while we're young," says 18-year-old producer turned rapper Rick Stevenson. "People like Bekoe giving us this platform is necessary in being able to do that."

Profiles abuse scandal inspires new magazine examining Chicago theater

by Katie Powers on July 12, 2018 at 1:00PM

liability," she says. "It just kind of got me thinking about accountability within Chicago and what that means."